The invention relates to an envelope closing mechanism and to a method for closing an envelope.
Envelope closing mechanisms are used for closing envelopes in a mechanized manner and are, in practice, often also designed for filling the envelopes, in which case such devices are designated, in practice, as inserters.
From European patent application 0 100 674, an envelope closing mechanism and a method are known in which the envelope is supplied with the flap leading, and urged from the path by the deflector, against a water wheel located below the path, which wets the flap until the relatively rigid envelope body filled with content urges the freely movable deflector away from the water wheel again. Moreover, the flap contacts a flap guide also located below the transport path and downstream of the water wheel, thereby folding the flap to a closed position.
A drawback of this known envelope closing mechanism is that the construction is relatively complex and that, especially at high processing speed and with soft envelopes, it is difficult to prevent moisture from the water wheel and glue dissolved therein coming from previously wetted envelopes, from ending up on the body and the content of the envelope.